Joe R. Lansdale‘s novel, The Thicket, is being turned into a dark Western thriller for Tubi. The project stars Peter Dinklage and Juliette Lewis, who’ve recently traveled to Calgary, Canada, where principle production is underway.
In addition to Dinklage and Lewis, The Thicket stars Esmé Creed-Miles (Hanna), Levon Hawke, Leslie Grace, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Macon Blair (I Care A Lot), James Hetfield (Metallica), Ned Dennehy, Andrew Schulz, and Arliss Howard.
Here’s a synopsis via Deadline‘s exclusive report:
Set at the turn of the century, The Thicket follows an innocent young man, Jack (Hawke), who goes on an epic quest to rescue his sister Lula (Creed-Miles) after she has been kidnapped by the violent killer Cut Throat Bill (Lewis) and her gang. To save her, Jack enlists the help of a crafty bounty hunter named Reginald Jones (Dinklage), a grave-digging alcoholic son of an ex-slave (Akinnagbe), and a...
In addition to Dinklage and Lewis, The Thicket stars Esmé Creed-Miles (Hanna), Levon Hawke, Leslie Grace, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Macon Blair (I Care A Lot), James Hetfield (Metallica), Ned Dennehy, Andrew Schulz, and Arliss Howard.
Here’s a synopsis via Deadline‘s exclusive report:
Set at the turn of the century, The Thicket follows an innocent young man, Jack (Hawke), who goes on an epic quest to rescue his sister Lula (Creed-Miles) after she has been kidnapped by the violent killer Cut Throat Bill (Lewis) and her gang. To save her, Jack enlists the help of a crafty bounty hunter named Reginald Jones (Dinklage), a grave-digging alcoholic son of an ex-slave (Akinnagbe), and a...
- 3/2/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Interview Louisa Mellor 2 Aug 2013 - 12:00
Southcliffe director Sean Durkin talks to us about the shooting spree drama, his influences, cast, Mad Men and more...
Four-part drama Southcliffe comes to Channel 4 this Sunday the 4th of August at 9pm. The story of a small town coping with the aftermath of a shooting spree, and from a script by Red Riding and The Unloved's Tony Grisoni, it promises to be a tough, but worthwhile ride.
We spoke to Us indie director Sean Durkin, whose Martha Marcy May Marlene won him well-deserved acclaim in 2011, about not making feel-good drama, not judging characters’ actions, and what drew him to work in English television…
First of all, belated congratulations on Martha Marcy May Marlene, it’s a tremendous piece of work, and one of the most empathetic films I’ve seen in a long while. Was that your aim?
It’s funny you say that.
Southcliffe director Sean Durkin talks to us about the shooting spree drama, his influences, cast, Mad Men and more...
Four-part drama Southcliffe comes to Channel 4 this Sunday the 4th of August at 9pm. The story of a small town coping with the aftermath of a shooting spree, and from a script by Red Riding and The Unloved's Tony Grisoni, it promises to be a tough, but worthwhile ride.
We spoke to Us indie director Sean Durkin, whose Martha Marcy May Marlene won him well-deserved acclaim in 2011, about not making feel-good drama, not judging characters’ actions, and what drew him to work in English television…
First of all, belated congratulations on Martha Marcy May Marlene, it’s a tremendous piece of work, and one of the most empathetic films I’ve seen in a long while. Was that your aim?
It’s funny you say that.
- 8/1/2013
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Steven Moffat has revealed the titles of the first few stories of Matt Smith's era as the Eleventh Doctor.
The series begins with The Eleventh Hour written by Moffat himself and is believed to follow directly on from the regeneration in The End of Time. Episode Two is The Beast Below also by Moffat with Episode Three seeing the return of the Doctor's greatest foe in Victory of the Daleks by Mark Gatiss.
Speaking to Doctor Who Magazine, Moffat also confirmed a number of guest stars for the new series coming to the UK in the Spring.
Arthur Darvill will join the cast of Episode One as Rory. Darvill was previously seen in Little Dorrit, playing Tip Dorrit in the 2008 series.
Sophie Okonedo stars in Episode Two. She recently seen playing Winnie Mandela in the film Mrs Mandela and has previously starred in series such as Criminal Justice, Father and Son and Clocking Off.
The series begins with The Eleventh Hour written by Moffat himself and is believed to follow directly on from the regeneration in The End of Time. Episode Two is The Beast Below also by Moffat with Episode Three seeing the return of the Doctor's greatest foe in Victory of the Daleks by Mark Gatiss.
Speaking to Doctor Who Magazine, Moffat also confirmed a number of guest stars for the new series coming to the UK in the Spring.
Arthur Darvill will join the cast of Episode One as Rory. Darvill was previously seen in Little Dorrit, playing Tip Dorrit in the 2008 series.
Sophie Okonedo stars in Episode Two. She recently seen playing Winnie Mandela in the film Mrs Mandela and has previously starred in series such as Criminal Justice, Father and Son and Clocking Off.
- 2/4/2010
- by Marcus
- The Doctor Who News Page
0:00 - Intro / Reed's Twitter 4:10 - Headlines: Miramax Goes Out of Business, Weird Al to Direct Live Action Film, Saw VI Director Back on Saw VII, Fubar 2, George Lucas CG Musical, Bourne Prequel, Sam Raimi to Direct The Shadow?, Van Damme Returns to the Ring 24:20 - Review: A Prophet 42:00 - Trailer Trash: Wall Street 2, The Losers 49:05 - Other Stuff We Watched: 30 Rock, Paris, Texas, Adventureland, All-Star Family Feud, Aquaman, Edge of Darkness, The Maltese Falcon, Leonard Part 6, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Archer, Better Off Ted 1:14:50 - Junk Mail: The Matrix, Atheism, Discussing Marketing in Reviews, Saoirse Pronunciation, Buffalo Shopping, Actors That You Will Watch in Anything, Weinstein's Letter to Errol Morris, Movies You Can't Find, Lunch with 3 Characters, Is 3D a Gimmick? 1:43:20 - This Week's DVD Releases 1:45:58 - Outro » Download the MP3 (52 Mb) [1] » View the show notes...
- 2/2/2010
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
Stephen Lang in Avatar (top); Danny Houston, Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness (bottom); Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel in When in Rome (bottom) James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver, got one step closer to beating the domestic gross of Titanic by collecting another $30 million at the North American box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. Avatar easily beat its competition by scoring an average of $9,759 per theater at 3,074 locations. The film’s total gross now stands at an impressive $594.4 million. Worldwide, Fox’s hit movie has generated 2.039 billion since its release. At No. 2, Martin Campbell’s thriller Edge of Darkness bagged [...]...
- 2/1/2010
- by Franck Tabouring
- Alt Film Guide
Chicago – Mel Gibson’s return to the big screen in the thriller “Edge of Darkness” was relatively disappointing at the box office this weekend (opening with Gibson’s lowest first weekend box office since 1995) but not only is that film worth your time but you should definitely take a look at the award-winning 1985 BBC mini-series that inspired it, directed by the same filmmaker, Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”).
DVD Rating: 4.5/5.0
The original “Edge of Darkness” was both way ahead of its time and a definite product of its era. The dramatic drive of the piece would play just as well on television now as it did a quarter-century ago but the themes of nuclear proliferation and a dark underbelly of society had a bit more resonance in the mid-’80s (and perhaps that’s why audiences felt like they had seen this story enough times to not pay to see it...
DVD Rating: 4.5/5.0
The original “Edge of Darkness” was both way ahead of its time and a definite product of its era. The dramatic drive of the piece would play just as well on television now as it did a quarter-century ago but the themes of nuclear proliferation and a dark underbelly of society had a bit more resonance in the mid-’80s (and perhaps that’s why audiences felt like they had seen this story enough times to not pay to see it...
- 2/1/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Based on the 1985 series that is still regarded as one of the finest pieces of TV drama produced in Britain, and directed by the same director Martin Campbell (now better known for his work on the James Bond series), Edge of Darkness comes laden with expectations as it also marks Mel Gibson’s first lead role in almost a decade. However, from the first days of initial shooting the odds seemed to be stacked against the film with the news that Robert De Niro had been replaced thanks to ‘creative differences’ - surely the most over-used euphemism in Hollywood – and so it comes as no surprise that ultimately the film doesn’t work. Primarily the problem with Edge of Darkness is that it’s so dour and dreary. Although it’s admirable for a big-budget thriller to attempt to tackle genuinely painful emotions in having Mel Gibson’s character Thomas Craven...
- 2/1/2010
- by Mark Davison
- t5m.com
James Cameron's latest crosses $2 billion worldwide, Mel Gibson's 'Edge of Darkness' earns second place.
By Josh Wigler
Sam Worthington in "Avatar"
Photo: Fox
#1 "Avatar" ($30 million)
#2 "Edge of Darkness" ($17.1 million)
#3 "When in Rome" ($12.1 million)
#4 "The Tooth Fairy" ($10 million)
#5 "The Book of Eli" ($8.8 million)
"Avatar" already beat "Titanic" to become the highest-grossing film of all time, but James Cameron's latest isn't showing any signs of slowing even after its record-smashing victory. Over the weekend, the science-fiction epic once again claimed the top prize at the domestic box office with $30 million, marking seven straight weekend wins since debuting in December.
Even with the great white whale of "Titanic" defeated on a global level, the 1997 Academy Award winner is still the king of the domestic box office with $600.8 million. But that record is likely to be dethroned within days, as "Avatar" is currently sitting at $594.5 million domestically.
There are...
By Josh Wigler
Sam Worthington in "Avatar"
Photo: Fox
#1 "Avatar" ($30 million)
#2 "Edge of Darkness" ($17.1 million)
#3 "When in Rome" ($12.1 million)
#4 "The Tooth Fairy" ($10 million)
#5 "The Book of Eli" ($8.8 million)
"Avatar" already beat "Titanic" to become the highest-grossing film of all time, but James Cameron's latest isn't showing any signs of slowing even after its record-smashing victory. Over the weekend, the science-fiction epic once again claimed the top prize at the domestic box office with $30 million, marking seven straight weekend wins since debuting in December.
Even with the great white whale of "Titanic" defeated on a global level, the 1997 Academy Award winner is still the king of the domestic box office with $600.8 million. But that record is likely to be dethroned within days, as "Avatar" is currently sitting at $594.5 million domestically.
There are...
- 2/1/2010
- MTV Movie News
Martin Campbell would not have made 'Edge of Darkness' without Mel Gibson. The director, who has previously worked on James Bond movie 'Casino Royale', admitted that only Mel could play the lead role. He said: ''I didn't consider anyone else other than Mel. I think had he not wanted to do it I wouldn't have made the film. ''It simply wouldn't have been the same. He has the emotional weight to carry this off. He's just a charismatic guy. If I ever see Mel Gibson in a film I'll always go and see it. He's just one of those actors that ..
- 2/1/2010
- Virgin Media - Movies
In my Box-Office preview last Friday I picked Edge of Darkness to “edge” its way past Avatar. However, I also predicted that Cameron’s film would still have a big enough domestic take to launch it into the number one all-time spot. Unfortunately I was wrong on both accounts. Admitting, I guess, is my first step to recovery.
Avatar continued rolling over the competition in its seventh week as the sci-fi juggernaut raked in another $30 million in an otherwise lackluster end to January’s box office. I wonder if the weather had some affect on moviegoers, or if the competition just wasn’t that good.
New releases Edge of Darkness and When In Rome ranged from dismal to fair this past weekend. Edge claimed an estimated $17.1 million on approximately 3,600 screens at 3,066 which was within the average range for its genre. According to experts at Box Office Mojo, it performed about the same as Righteous Kill,...
Avatar continued rolling over the competition in its seventh week as the sci-fi juggernaut raked in another $30 million in an otherwise lackluster end to January’s box office. I wonder if the weather had some affect on moviegoers, or if the competition just wasn’t that good.
New releases Edge of Darkness and When In Rome ranged from dismal to fair this past weekend. Edge claimed an estimated $17.1 million on approximately 3,600 screens at 3,066 which was within the average range for its genre. According to experts at Box Office Mojo, it performed about the same as Righteous Kill,...
- 2/1/2010
- by Kevin Coll
- FusedFilm
Edge of Darkness begins with three bodies bubbling to the top of an otherwise picturesque river. It's a less than subtle way for the filmmakers to say, "Don't get too comfortable" since the thriller's first few moments would seem innocuous otherwise. The early domestic scenes show both the closeness and distance between Boston Detective Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) and his 24-year-old daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic, Drag Me to Hell), flashing back to her youth and revealing a persistent affection in the present despite her quietness about her work.
Emma has a secret that she wishes to tell her father, but a killer's bullet stops her confession in a particularly brutal scene that has her slamming through her father's front door. Though the film makes it seem as though Craven's work as a detective made him the murderer's target, the movie's trailers tell us in two minutes what it takes Edge of Darkness...
Emma has a secret that she wishes to tell her father, but a killer's bullet stops her confession in a particularly brutal scene that has her slamming through her father's front door. Though the film makes it seem as though Craven's work as a detective made him the murderer's target, the movie's trailers tell us in two minutes what it takes Edge of Darkness...
- 2/1/2010
- CinemaSpy
Box Office Estimates for the Weekend of January 29-31:
1. “Avatar” ($30 million)
Bayer’s Tsr – 7/10
Complete “Avatar” Coverage
2. “Edge of Darkness” ($17.1 million)
Allen’s Tsr – 5/10
3. “When in Rome” ($12.1 million)
McLaughlin’s Tsr – 5/10
4. “Tooth Fairy” ($10 million)
Bayer’s Tsr – 4/10
5. “The Book of Eli” ($8.8 million)
Bayer’s Tsr – 6/10
Source: Box Office Mojo
Yeah. We get it. King of the World. James Cameron’s Avatar is closing in on James Cameron’s Titanic. Making another $30 million this weekend ranks as the highest-grossing seventh weekend ever. Yes, you guessed it, the film it passed was Titanic with $25.9 million. Analysts are saying Avatar should pass Titanic and its $600.8 million by Wednesday to make it the highest-grossing movie of all time. Keep in mind, it’s not even close to the attendance record. Ticket prices, especially 3D ticket prices are more expensive.
Related posts:Box Office Review – Jan. 10 – ‘Avatar’ beats ‘Sherlock Holmes’ again Box Office Review – Dec.
1. “Avatar” ($30 million)
Bayer’s Tsr – 7/10
Complete “Avatar” Coverage
2. “Edge of Darkness” ($17.1 million)
Allen’s Tsr – 5/10
3. “When in Rome” ($12.1 million)
McLaughlin’s Tsr – 5/10
4. “Tooth Fairy” ($10 million)
Bayer’s Tsr – 4/10
5. “The Book of Eli” ($8.8 million)
Bayer’s Tsr – 6/10
Source: Box Office Mojo
Yeah. We get it. King of the World. James Cameron’s Avatar is closing in on James Cameron’s Titanic. Making another $30 million this weekend ranks as the highest-grossing seventh weekend ever. Yes, you guessed it, the film it passed was Titanic with $25.9 million. Analysts are saying Avatar should pass Titanic and its $600.8 million by Wednesday to make it the highest-grossing movie of all time. Keep in mind, it’s not even close to the attendance record. Ticket prices, especially 3D ticket prices are more expensive.
Related posts:Box Office Review – Jan. 10 – ‘Avatar’ beats ‘Sherlock Holmes’ again Box Office Review – Dec.
- 2/1/2010
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
Gibson shines perfectly, almost as if eight years from being behind the camera, was nothing. Edge of Darness, is a grim and emotionally charged thriller that brings us the inevitable nature of drama in all its glory. Martin Campbell works it well with thrills and mystery at every turn taking us to the edge of our seats with precision and gut wrenching emotion.
“You decide whether your hanging on the cross or bangin’ in the nails!” thats the signature and marketable line for Martin Campbell’s well paced and suspenseful remake of the BBC series, Edge of Darkness. Where most studios are looking for their version of Taken, some version of a story with an angry father hell bent on chaos and destruction to find the truth, find his daughter or right some wrong. Darkness is definitely that but more. Its a thriller first, drama second and top notch pace of human exploration third.
“You decide whether your hanging on the cross or bangin’ in the nails!” thats the signature and marketable line for Martin Campbell’s well paced and suspenseful remake of the BBC series, Edge of Darkness. Where most studios are looking for their version of Taken, some version of a story with an angry father hell bent on chaos and destruction to find the truth, find his daughter or right some wrong. Darkness is definitely that but more. Its a thriller first, drama second and top notch pace of human exploration third.
- 2/1/2010
- by Kevin Coll
- FusedFilm
DC Entertainment’s The Losers has finally gotten its trailer and some posters this weekend after getting released in front of Edge of Darkness this weekend. The film is based on DC’s Veritgo label series of the same name.
The Losers original comic series has been at DC since the 70s as a war comic set during World War II. The series revolved around a Special Forces group composed of personnel from all branches of the armed forces was formed. Because each member had suffered the deaths of personnel under their command for which they felt responsible, they dubbed themselves The Losers.
The film is based more on the Veritgo version of the comic series which was a re-imagining of the original DC war comic. In the series which was created by Andy Diggle, and instead of World War II backdrop its set during the “war on terror.”
Originally...
The Losers original comic series has been at DC since the 70s as a war comic set during World War II. The series revolved around a Special Forces group composed of personnel from all branches of the armed forces was formed. Because each member had suffered the deaths of personnel under their command for which they felt responsible, they dubbed themselves The Losers.
The film is based more on the Veritgo version of the comic series which was a re-imagining of the original DC war comic. In the series which was created by Andy Diggle, and instead of World War II backdrop its set during the “war on terror.”
Originally...
- 2/1/2010
- by Kevin Coll
- FusedFilm
Weekend of January 29 – 31, 2010: 'Avatar' Still on top; new releases doing so-so...
James Cameron’s sci-fi epic “Avatar” got one step closer to beating the domestic gross of “Titanic” this weekend by collecting another $30 million at the North American box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.
“Avatar” easily beat its competition by scoring an average of $9,759 per theater at 3,074 locations. The film’s total gross now stands at an impressive $594.4 million. Worldwide, Fox’s hit movie has generated 2.039 billion ever since its release.
At No. 2, Martin Campbell’s thriller “Edge of Darkness” bagged $17.1 million. Starring Mel Gibson, the film based on a BBC mini-series follows a detective who embarks on a perilous investigation into his daughter’s brutal murder.
Following in third place this weekend was new entry “When in Rome,” a disastrous romantic comedy that managed to grab $12 million from ticket sales at 2,456 locations. Directed by Mark Steven Johnson,...
James Cameron’s sci-fi epic “Avatar” got one step closer to beating the domestic gross of “Titanic” this weekend by collecting another $30 million at the North American box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.
“Avatar” easily beat its competition by scoring an average of $9,759 per theater at 3,074 locations. The film’s total gross now stands at an impressive $594.4 million. Worldwide, Fox’s hit movie has generated 2.039 billion ever since its release.
At No. 2, Martin Campbell’s thriller “Edge of Darkness” bagged $17.1 million. Starring Mel Gibson, the film based on a BBC mini-series follows a detective who embarks on a perilous investigation into his daughter’s brutal murder.
Following in third place this weekend was new entry “When in Rome,” a disastrous romantic comedy that managed to grab $12 million from ticket sales at 2,456 locations. Directed by Mark Steven Johnson,...
- 1/31/2010
- by Franck Tabouring
- screeninglog.com
Right Click Here To Download This Episode Now!
Join TV and Film enthusiasts from Fused Film’s Entertainment Overload as they talk about the geekiest and biggest movies in this weekly podcast for fans and geeks alike. Welcome to an insightful and entertaining fanboy perspective on all things awesome.
Subscribe via: RSS or iTunes
Episode 97 – This Is The Edge Of Darkness
Recorded January 30, 2010. Justin Vactor and WonderRob to discuss This Is It at home and Edge Of Darkness at the theater.
Entertainment thats overloaded us this week:
Mrs. V:
Whip It!, The Wire Seasons 4 and 5, Whiteout, Pushing Daisies Season 1 and The Surrogates
TV Talk:
Lost
SNL
Video Games:
Infamous
Uncharted 2
Mass Effect 2
Film Overload At Home:
Film Overload At The Theater:
Thanks for listening to Entertainment Overload! Please let us know what you thought of this episode by leaving a comment below or e-mailing us at website@fusedfilm.com or...
Join TV and Film enthusiasts from Fused Film’s Entertainment Overload as they talk about the geekiest and biggest movies in this weekly podcast for fans and geeks alike. Welcome to an insightful and entertaining fanboy perspective on all things awesome.
Subscribe via: RSS or iTunes
Episode 97 – This Is The Edge Of Darkness
Recorded January 30, 2010. Justin Vactor and WonderRob to discuss This Is It at home and Edge Of Darkness at the theater.
Entertainment thats overloaded us this week:
Mrs. V:
Whip It!, The Wire Seasons 4 and 5, Whiteout, Pushing Daisies Season 1 and The Surrogates
TV Talk:
Lost
SNL
Video Games:
Infamous
Uncharted 2
Mass Effect 2
Film Overload At Home:
Film Overload At The Theater:
Thanks for listening to Entertainment Overload! Please let us know what you thought of this episode by leaving a comment below or e-mailing us at website@fusedfilm.com or...
- 1/31/2010
- by Vactor
- FusedFilm
James Cameron's "Avatar" topped the domestic boxoffice for a seventh straight session, ringing up an estimated $30 million while pushing its cumulative boxoffice to within shouting distance of yet another record.
"Titanic" -- which topped weekend rankings 15 times -- registered $600.8 million domestically in its 1997-1998 boxoffice cruise for a record that once seemed insurmountable but now is as good as gone. Cameron's latest blockbuster should steam past the disaster pic's domestic tally midweek, after exiting the weekend with $594.5 million in U.S. and Canadian coin.
Outsize foreign grosses for "Avatar" previously pushed the sci-fi epic past the onetime-record of $1.84 billion in worldwide boxoffice registered by "Titanic." Global boxoffice for "Avatar" is now at $2.04 billion and counting.
Elsewhere this weekend, the Warner Bros.-distributed Mel Gibson starrer "Edge of Darkness" fetched $17.1 million in second place to open at the high end of pre-release expectations.
Disney's romantic comedy "When in Rome," starring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel,...
"Titanic" -- which topped weekend rankings 15 times -- registered $600.8 million domestically in its 1997-1998 boxoffice cruise for a record that once seemed insurmountable but now is as good as gone. Cameron's latest blockbuster should steam past the disaster pic's domestic tally midweek, after exiting the weekend with $594.5 million in U.S. and Canadian coin.
Outsize foreign grosses for "Avatar" previously pushed the sci-fi epic past the onetime-record of $1.84 billion in worldwide boxoffice registered by "Titanic." Global boxoffice for "Avatar" is now at $2.04 billion and counting.
Elsewhere this weekend, the Warner Bros.-distributed Mel Gibson starrer "Edge of Darkness" fetched $17.1 million in second place to open at the high end of pre-release expectations.
Disney's romantic comedy "When in Rome," starring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel,...
- 1/31/2010
- by By Carl DiOrio
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Warning: If you've never seen a Mel Gibson movie before, this review may contain spoilers.
Following The Passion Of The Christ, and revelations about his feelings towards the chosen people and the sugar-titted, many such as myself have spent the last decade fairly uncomfortable with Mel Gibson. As much as it may have electrified a base of believers who hadn't had an item of pop significance since the Counter-Reformation, for those brought up in the Church of the Sacred Multiplex The Passion raised some uncomfortable questions about one of the world's biggest movie stars.
A majority of Mel Gibson films are connected by a persistent theme of justified violence. From Lethal Weapon to Braveheart, his characters are typically tortured (in one way or another, and not infrequently in the Christ pose,) and in turn take vengeance on their assailants. And his films as a director - an Oscar-winner at that...
Following The Passion Of The Christ, and revelations about his feelings towards the chosen people and the sugar-titted, many such as myself have spent the last decade fairly uncomfortable with Mel Gibson. As much as it may have electrified a base of believers who hadn't had an item of pop significance since the Counter-Reformation, for those brought up in the Church of the Sacred Multiplex The Passion raised some uncomfortable questions about one of the world's biggest movie stars.
A majority of Mel Gibson films are connected by a persistent theme of justified violence. From Lethal Weapon to Braveheart, his characters are typically tortured (in one way or another, and not infrequently in the Christ pose,) and in turn take vengeance on their assailants. And his films as a director - an Oscar-winner at that...
- 1/31/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Cameron's 'Avatar' is still the dominant force at the box office; new releases still no real threat...
James Cameron's "Avatar" held on to the No. 1 spot at the North American box office Friday with a solid $7.3 million in ticket sales, beating all new releases while reaching a domestic total gross of $571.7 million.
Mel Gibson's new thriller "Edge of Darkness" came close to defeating "Avatar," but Cameron's sci-fi flick prevailed, heading for yet another weekend win. "Darkness" grabbed $5.6 million from 3,066 locations. The film is based on a popular BBC TV mini-series.
In the thriller directed by Martin Campbell ("Casino Royale"), Gibson plays a tough Boston detective who penetrates a dark and dangerous world after his daughter is brutally murdered on his doorsteps.
Debuting in third place Friday was Mark Steven Johnson's comedy "When in Rome," which generated $4.4 million from ticket sales at 2,456 locations. The film stars Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel.
James Cameron's "Avatar" held on to the No. 1 spot at the North American box office Friday with a solid $7.3 million in ticket sales, beating all new releases while reaching a domestic total gross of $571.7 million.
Mel Gibson's new thriller "Edge of Darkness" came close to defeating "Avatar," but Cameron's sci-fi flick prevailed, heading for yet another weekend win. "Darkness" grabbed $5.6 million from 3,066 locations. The film is based on a popular BBC TV mini-series.
In the thriller directed by Martin Campbell ("Casino Royale"), Gibson plays a tough Boston detective who penetrates a dark and dangerous world after his daughter is brutally murdered on his doorsteps.
Debuting in third place Friday was Mark Steven Johnson's comedy "When in Rome," which generated $4.4 million from ticket sales at 2,456 locations. The film stars Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel.
- 1/31/2010
- by Franck Tabouring
- screeninglog.com
Last year's Aziz Ansari-initiated uproar over digital IMAX versus "real" IMAX did little to stop the spread of the "poor man"'s large format. More and more theaters are charging extra for converted theaters with slightly larger screens and high-end digital projection and sound. As you may know, IMAX is no longer the only player in the game: over the past few months, Cinemark has been rolling out something it calls "Xd" or "Extreme Digital Cinema" at theaters across the country. (IMAX and Cinemark have since hit each other with patent and breach of contract lawsuits.) It promises "extra large, extreme entertainment" and an "intense experience in every seat." But intense sensory experiences don't come cheap: a ticket to an Xd showing will run you $3 dollars extra. Here in San Francisco, seeing a movie at the only Xd theater costs $14.
I went to see Edge of Darkness in Xd on Friday.
I went to see Edge of Darkness in Xd on Friday.
- 1/31/2010
- by Eugene Novikov
- Cinematical
Underpinned by a towering performance by Gabourey Sidibe as the abused heroine, this tale of parental abuse is grim, yet ultimately affirmative, writes Philip French
The star TV talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey has been involved over the years in three significant movies based on celebrated novels by black authors. In 1985, she appeared as a natural rebel alongside Whoopi Goldberg in Steven Spielberg's skilful, soft-centred adaptation of Alice Walker's The Color Purple about the oppression of black women in the Deep South, the need for sisterhood and the romance of Africa.
In 1998, she produced and starred in Jonathan Demme's film of Toni Morrison's Beloved. In this ambitious failure, Winfrey played the runaway slave who kills her baby rather than see her recaptured by white pursuers and, a decade after the Civil War, is haunted by the child's ghost. Now she is the co-producer of Lee Daniels's Precious,...
The star TV talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey has been involved over the years in three significant movies based on celebrated novels by black authors. In 1985, she appeared as a natural rebel alongside Whoopi Goldberg in Steven Spielberg's skilful, soft-centred adaptation of Alice Walker's The Color Purple about the oppression of black women in the Deep South, the need for sisterhood and the romance of Africa.
In 1998, she produced and starred in Jonathan Demme's film of Toni Morrison's Beloved. In this ambitious failure, Winfrey played the runaway slave who kills her baby rather than see her recaptured by white pursuers and, a decade after the Civil War, is haunted by the child's ghost. Now she is the co-producer of Lee Daniels's Precious,...
- 1/31/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
After a seven year hiatus from acting, Mel Gibson and his scowling features return to the silver screen more creased and fatigued than you might remember and angrier than he’s ever been. Channeling the vintage Mad Mel of Payback and Ransom, the 56-year-old glowers his way through yet another revenge plot in a formidable comeback performance as the “guy with nothing to lose.”
In Edge of Darkness, Gibson’s Thomas Craven is out for blood after his only daughter, Emma (Bojana Novakovic), takes a fatal shotgun blast to the belly on their front porch. Soon the grieving father is aiming a Glock in the face of anyone with answers, uncovering a corporate conspiracy in the process.
Martin Campbell adapts his own six-part BBC miniseries by condensing the tense British drama into a more explosive Bostonian fury. Gibson’s gravely voice drops his R’s in a more consistently convincing...
In Edge of Darkness, Gibson’s Thomas Craven is out for blood after his only daughter, Emma (Bojana Novakovic), takes a fatal shotgun blast to the belly on their front porch. Soon the grieving father is aiming a Glock in the face of anyone with answers, uncovering a corporate conspiracy in the process.
Martin Campbell adapts his own six-part BBC miniseries by condensing the tense British drama into a more explosive Bostonian fury. Gibson’s gravely voice drops his R’s in a more consistently convincing...
- 1/30/2010
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
Seen on: January 26, 2010
The players: Director: Martin Campbell, Writers: William Monahan, Andrew Bovell, Cast: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic
Facts of interest: Remake of a British TV mini-series.
The plot: Mel Gibson plays a detective who goes totally nuts after his daughter is murdered right in front of him.
Our thoughts: Mel Gibson returns to action on the big screen in Martin Campbell’s new thriller “Edge of Darkness,” and while he’s undoubtedly in great shape, the movie itself could do with a little more spice. That said, “Darkness” still qualifies as an entertaining viewing experience I had no trouble enjoying throughout.
The players: Director: Martin Campbell, Writers: William Monahan, Andrew Bovell, Cast: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic
Facts of interest: Remake of a British TV mini-series.
The plot: Mel Gibson plays a detective who goes totally nuts after his daughter is murdered right in front of him.
Our thoughts: Mel Gibson returns to action on the big screen in Martin Campbell’s new thriller “Edge of Darkness,” and while he’s undoubtedly in great shape, the movie itself could do with a little more spice. That said, “Darkness” still qualifies as an entertaining viewing experience I had no trouble enjoying throughout.
- 1/30/2010
- by Franck Tabouring
- screeninglog.com
My guess is that a lot of critics and, in particular, box-office prognosticators, are taking a very noncommittal approach to Mel Gibson's first turn in front of the screen in seven years. How very fucking professional of them -- who would want to be on the wrong side of the box-office receipts come Monday, right? Well, here's my noncommittal approach: Fuck Mel Gibson and fuck this movie.
In the nearly four years since his little DUI incident, there have been a lot of jokes made about Gibson and his remarks. Those jokes, in turn, have hidden what's really underneath it all. It's hard to hate a guy if you're too busy laughing at him. Moreover, as long as he was out of the public eye, we could sort of revel in the fact that the man got his comeuppance. But now he's back, and in those years of absence,...
In the nearly four years since his little DUI incident, there have been a lot of jokes made about Gibson and his remarks. Those jokes, in turn, have hidden what's really underneath it all. It's hard to hate a guy if you're too busy laughing at him. Moreover, as long as he was out of the public eye, we could sort of revel in the fact that the man got his comeuppance. But now he's back, and in those years of absence,...
- 1/30/2010
- by Dustin Rowles
1. "Avatar" ($7.5 million)
2. "Edge of Darkness" ($5.7 million)
3. "When in Rome" ($4.4 million)
4. "The Book of Eli" ($2.5 million)
5. "Tooth Fairy" ($2.3 million)
After seven straight weeks in theaters, you didn't really think that "Avatar" would fall from the top of the charts, did you? James Cameron's science fiction epic continued to barrel ahead of the competition on Friday with a $7.5 million intake, bringing the record-smashing film's cumulative domestic tally up to $572 million.
Already, "Avatar" has taken the all-time worldwide record away from "Titanic," Cameron's previous record holder, though the 1997 Oscar winner remains the film to beat when it comes to the domestic box office with a $600.8 million total. Given the success that "Avatar" continues to have, however, it's a sure bet that the Na'vi of Pandora will claim that record from "Titanic" as well.
But "Avatar" wasn't the only noteworthy film at the box office on Friday, as Mel Gibson made his return...
2. "Edge of Darkness" ($5.7 million)
3. "When in Rome" ($4.4 million)
4. "The Book of Eli" ($2.5 million)
5. "Tooth Fairy" ($2.3 million)
After seven straight weeks in theaters, you didn't really think that "Avatar" would fall from the top of the charts, did you? James Cameron's science fiction epic continued to barrel ahead of the competition on Friday with a $7.5 million intake, bringing the record-smashing film's cumulative domestic tally up to $572 million.
Already, "Avatar" has taken the all-time worldwide record away from "Titanic," Cameron's previous record holder, though the 1997 Oscar winner remains the film to beat when it comes to the domestic box office with a $600.8 million total. Given the success that "Avatar" continues to have, however, it's a sure bet that the Na'vi of Pandora will claim that record from "Titanic" as well.
But "Avatar" wasn't the only noteworthy film at the box office on Friday, as Mel Gibson made his return...
- 1/30/2010
- by Josh Wigler
- MTV Movies Blog
Precious (15)
(Lee Daniels, 2009, Us)
Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey. 110 mins.
It sounds like a relentlessly depressing pile-up of miseries: the tale of a 1980s Harlem teenager who's poor, lonely, overweight, undereducated, abused by both parents, and pregnant for the second time by her father. And it gets worse after that. But, mercifully, this doesn't play by European social realist rules, throwing in flourishes of fantasy and even comedy, and offering glimmers of hope, real and imagined, to lighten its heroine's unenviable burden. It's still a harrowing watch, powerfully performed and earnestly authentic, but even as it wallows in the gutter, it's looking for the stars.
The Princess And The Frog (U)
(Ron Clements, John Musker, 2009, Us)
Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos. 97 mins.
Another Disney Princess™ for the merchandising range, sorry, cinematic tradition, and the first African-American one. True to latter-day Disney form, she's capable and motivated – until she's turned into a frog,...
(Lee Daniels, 2009, Us)
Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey. 110 mins.
It sounds like a relentlessly depressing pile-up of miseries: the tale of a 1980s Harlem teenager who's poor, lonely, overweight, undereducated, abused by both parents, and pregnant for the second time by her father. And it gets worse after that. But, mercifully, this doesn't play by European social realist rules, throwing in flourishes of fantasy and even comedy, and offering glimmers of hope, real and imagined, to lighten its heroine's unenviable burden. It's still a harrowing watch, powerfully performed and earnestly authentic, but even as it wallows in the gutter, it's looking for the stars.
The Princess And The Frog (U)
(Ron Clements, John Musker, 2009, Us)
Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos. 97 mins.
Another Disney Princess™ for the merchandising range, sorry, cinematic tradition, and the first African-American one. True to latter-day Disney form, she's capable and motivated – until she's turned into a frog,...
- 1/30/2010
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Ray Winstone and Ian McShane in an odd mob dramedy.
Ray Winstone and Melvil Poupaud in "44 Inch Chest"
Photo: Image Entertainment
In attempting to turn a stage play into a movie, the usual route is to open it up — to build in some scenes that take the action outdoors, or into freshly imagined environments. The new English film "44 Inch Chest" makes token gestures in those directions — brief ventures out onto the nighttime streets and into a private gambling club — but it never shrugs off its feeling of talky, stage-bound confinement. Which is odd, since the film was made from an original script — it never was a play.
It's an actors' film, as they say — which is not the same thing as an audience film. The cast is first-rate, but the story in which they mill about is rickety and undernourished. Ray Winstone plays Colin, a London gangster whose wife, Liz...
Ray Winstone and Melvil Poupaud in "44 Inch Chest"
Photo: Image Entertainment
In attempting to turn a stage play into a movie, the usual route is to open it up — to build in some scenes that take the action outdoors, or into freshly imagined environments. The new English film "44 Inch Chest" makes token gestures in those directions — brief ventures out onto the nighttime streets and into a private gambling club — but it never shrugs off its feeling of talky, stage-bound confinement. Which is odd, since the film was made from an original script — it never was a play.
It's an actors' film, as they say — which is not the same thing as an audience film. The cast is first-rate, but the story in which they mill about is rickety and undernourished. Ray Winstone plays Colin, a London gangster whose wife, Liz...
- 1/29/2010
- MTV Movie News
This weekend, after an 8 year hiatus, Mel Gibson returns to the screen with Martin Campbell at the helm in Edge of Darkness. Distributed by Warner Brothers the film plans to get released on 3,066 screens.
While Avatar continues its roll as it could break the domestic box office record this weekend, ‘Darkness plans to loom over it as well as Disney’s first release of 2010, When In Rome, starring Kristen Bell. Entering its seventh week, Avatar, has an overall domestic haul of $561.3 million as of Wednesday and only needs $39.5 million more to overtake “Titanic’s” $600.8 million domestic b.o. record.
Edge of Darkness is by Gk Films and rounds out a busy weekend for Warner Brothers who has Book of Eli in its third weekend and a rolling Sherlock Holmes.
The movie revolves around Gibson playing a Boston homicide detective who, after the death of his activist daughter, discovers a corporate cover up.
While Avatar continues its roll as it could break the domestic box office record this weekend, ‘Darkness plans to loom over it as well as Disney’s first release of 2010, When In Rome, starring Kristen Bell. Entering its seventh week, Avatar, has an overall domestic haul of $561.3 million as of Wednesday and only needs $39.5 million more to overtake “Titanic’s” $600.8 million domestic b.o. record.
Edge of Darkness is by Gk Films and rounds out a busy weekend for Warner Brothers who has Book of Eli in its third weekend and a rolling Sherlock Holmes.
The movie revolves around Gibson playing a Boston homicide detective who, after the death of his activist daughter, discovers a corporate cover up.
- 1/29/2010
- by Kevin Coll
- FusedFilm
From MTV.Com: "Edge of Darkness" is a revenge thriller ripped from today's headlines. Well, ripped from the headlines of 25 years ago, anyway, back around the time when movies like "Silkwood" and "The China Syndrome" were mopping up Oscar nominations with their fact-based indictments of the nasty nuclear-energy industry.
The original "Edge of Darkness" was a 1985 BBC-tv miniseries whose director, Martin Campbell, has now turned it into a feature film, relocating the story to Boston. But Karen Silkwood was a real person, and "The China Syndrome" echoed the near-meltdown of the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. "Edge of Darkness" has no such real-world roots, and so its concern with a sinister nuclear-research corporation and the brave young anti-nuke activists determined to blow the whistle on it feels stale and dated. It's a movie whose time has passed.
Continue reading 'Edge of Darkness': Dad Reckoning, By Kurt Loder...
The original "Edge of Darkness" was a 1985 BBC-tv miniseries whose director, Martin Campbell, has now turned it into a feature film, relocating the story to Boston. But Karen Silkwood was a real person, and "The China Syndrome" echoed the near-meltdown of the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. "Edge of Darkness" has no such real-world roots, and so its concern with a sinister nuclear-research corporation and the brave young anti-nuke activists determined to blow the whistle on it feels stale and dated. It's a movie whose time has passed.
Continue reading 'Edge of Darkness': Dad Reckoning, By Kurt Loder...
- 1/29/2010
- by Kurt Loder
- MTV Movies Blog
We know how it is: You’d like to go to the movies this weekend, except you’re busy investigating the latest government/corporate coverup and that leaves little time for amusing yourself. But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the right DVDs. And when someone asks you on Monday, “Hey, did you see Edge of Darkness this weekend?” you can reply, “No, but gimme back my DVDs!” Goodness, only two wide releases this week, and no new arthouse flicks worth mentioning? It really must be the ass end of January...
- 1/29/2010
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
For those wondering if Mel Gibson still has the moxie to carry a film, Martin Campbell’s new revenge thriller Edge of Darkness should answer all lingering doubts and silence the naysayers. Gibson is back and he brought enough bullets for everybody.
Edge of Darkness, based on the 1985 BBC miniseries, which was also directed by Campbell, centers on Thomas Craven (Gibson), a Boston detective whose estranged daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) is brutally slain in front of his home. Police believe the killing was accidental and that the real target was the elder Craven. As the investigation begins, Craven discovers oddities in Emma’s belongings such as a gun and a radiation detector. Quickly, he believes that the real target was Emma all along and that her association with NorthMoore, a non-governmental research-and-development facility, may have led to her death. The case leads him to the office of NorthMoore chief Jack Bennett...
Edge of Darkness, based on the 1985 BBC miniseries, which was also directed by Campbell, centers on Thomas Craven (Gibson), a Boston detective whose estranged daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) is brutally slain in front of his home. Police believe the killing was accidental and that the real target was the elder Craven. As the investigation begins, Craven discovers oddities in Emma’s belongings such as a gun and a radiation detector. Quickly, he believes that the real target was Emma all along and that her association with NorthMoore, a non-governmental research-and-development facility, may have led to her death. The case leads him to the office of NorthMoore chief Jack Bennett...
- 1/29/2010
- by Erik Buckman
- ReelLoop.com
After a self-imposed seven-year hiatus, Mel Gibson returns to the screen as the lead in the thriller Edge of Darkness. The film's screenplay was written by William Monahan (Body of Lies, Kingdom of Heaven) and Andrew Bovell (Strictly Ballroom), but the real backbone of the plot comes from the BBC miniseries written by the late Troy Kennedy-Martin, who is best known for war classic Kelly's Heroes (1970) and The Italian Job (1969 and 2003 remake).
Boston homicide detective Thomas Craven (Gibson) should have seen enough violence and bloodshed to be desensitized after so many years on the force. When his 24-year-old daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) is gunned down on the front steps of his house, the impact is devastating -- not only because Craven has lost his only child, but apparently he was the intended target. However, while trying to identify who would have wanted him dead, he discovers that he knows very little about his daughter.
Boston homicide detective Thomas Craven (Gibson) should have seen enough violence and bloodshed to be desensitized after so many years on the force. When his 24-year-old daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) is gunned down on the front steps of his house, the impact is devastating -- not only because Craven has lost his only child, but apparently he was the intended target. However, while trying to identify who would have wanted him dead, he discovers that he knows very little about his daughter.
- 1/29/2010
- by Debbie Cerda
- Slackerwood
Bodies bob to the surface of a deserted river. A playful little girl is captured on home video. A troubled man waits for his daughter. Edge of Darkness, a powerhouse dramatic thriller directed by Martin Campbell, tends a bed of smoldering embers that occasionally, unexpectedly, explodes into a raging fire.
The largest ember is Craven, a Boston police detective. As played by Mel Gibson, Craven becomes a man on a mission only after his daughter is shot dead in front of his eyes. Before that, his life is a blank slate, more notable for the things that are missing rather than any sense of purpose. Unresolved questions follow him around like a lost puppy: why didn't he visit his only daughter? Why did he demonstrate so little interest in her career or her friends? What happened to his wife, evidently long gone from the scene? Why doesn't he have any friends?...
The largest ember is Craven, a Boston police detective. As played by Mel Gibson, Craven becomes a man on a mission only after his daughter is shot dead in front of his eyes. Before that, his life is a blank slate, more notable for the things that are missing rather than any sense of purpose. Unresolved questions follow him around like a lost puppy: why didn't he visit his only daughter? Why did he demonstrate so little interest in her career or her friends? What happened to his wife, evidently long gone from the scene? Why doesn't he have any friends?...
- 1/29/2010
- by Peter Martin
- Cinematical
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
It's a rarity, but sometimes a re-imagining can do its predecessor justice. Edge of Darkness at the very least has that going for it. The original was released as a six part series 25 years ago and was heralded for its thought-provoking plot. Also, the late Bob Peck as the lead, was solid. Using the same theme from 1985, and bringing Mel Gibson back to a starring role, Edge of Darkness has the tools to be successful.
Having the tools is one thing. Knowing how to use them is another. This 117 minute flick played it safe and didn't really venture outside of the source material. Fortunately, the subject matter is intriguing enough and Mel Gibson seems to be in his element where he always succeeds as an actor.
Detective Craven (Mel Gibson) is picking up his beloved daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) at the airport for a weekend visit.
It's a rarity, but sometimes a re-imagining can do its predecessor justice. Edge of Darkness at the very least has that going for it. The original was released as a six part series 25 years ago and was heralded for its thought-provoking plot. Also, the late Bob Peck as the lead, was solid. Using the same theme from 1985, and bringing Mel Gibson back to a starring role, Edge of Darkness has the tools to be successful.
Having the tools is one thing. Knowing how to use them is another. This 117 minute flick played it safe and didn't really venture outside of the source material. Fortunately, the subject matter is intriguing enough and Mel Gibson seems to be in his element where he always succeeds as an actor.
Detective Craven (Mel Gibson) is picking up his beloved daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) at the airport for a weekend visit.
- 1/29/2010
- Tampa Film Examiner
Philip Barrett: Let me get one thing out of the way; this is going to sound like I hate Edge of Darkness. I don’t, and truth be told it’s not a terrible film by any stretch. The true enemy of this movie is Warner Bros. marketing department which wants this movie to be Taken 2. The film itself acts like it wants to be, too, and without the success of Taken we wouldn’t have realized it, but it’s not an action film. Will that disappoint the audience going into it remains to be seen, but that’s the main reason this picture left me cold.
Plus1: Edge of Darkness reminded me of last year’s Clive Owen flick – The International, in that they both started slow and built toward a Wow factor with a “I can’t believe they did that” ending. Both movies used real-world...
Plus1: Edge of Darkness reminded me of last year’s Clive Owen flick – The International, in that they both started slow and built toward a Wow factor with a “I can’t believe they did that” ending. Both movies used real-world...
- 1/29/2010
- by Philip Barrett
- Atomic Popcorn
Mel Gibson and Danny Huston in Edge of Darkness
Photo: Warner Bros. If you were looking for Edge of Darkness to be as entertaining as last year's vengeful father thriller Taken you will be sorely disappointed. Surely that was the goal for Warner Bros. as it aims to take advantage of the exact same release date that earned Taken nearly $150 million at last year's domestic box-office. However, WB shouldn't be on the lookout for a similar return as the "from the director of Casino Royale" tagline and what's left of Mel Gibson's star power is sure to only grant this film a modest opening weekend as word-of-mouth won't be strong.
Written by the same man that turned the Hong Kong thriller "Infernal Affairs" into the Boston area crime drama The Departed, William Monahan, this time, adapts the 1985 BBC miniseries of the same name into another Boston adventure and while...
Photo: Warner Bros. If you were looking for Edge of Darkness to be as entertaining as last year's vengeful father thriller Taken you will be sorely disappointed. Surely that was the goal for Warner Bros. as it aims to take advantage of the exact same release date that earned Taken nearly $150 million at last year's domestic box-office. However, WB shouldn't be on the lookout for a similar return as the "from the director of Casino Royale" tagline and what's left of Mel Gibson's star power is sure to only grant this film a modest opening weekend as word-of-mouth won't be strong.
Written by the same man that turned the Hong Kong thriller "Infernal Affairs" into the Boston area crime drama The Departed, William Monahan, this time, adapts the 1985 BBC miniseries of the same name into another Boston adventure and while...
- 1/29/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
“Edge of Darkness” is directed by Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale,” “Mask of Zorro”) who, interestingly enough, is remaking the film from an award-winning six-hour BBC miniseries he directed 25 years ago.
Campbell is working from a screenplay adapted from that series by two seasoned scribes: William Monohan (“The Departed,” another remake transplanted to Boston) and Andrew Bovell (who brought similar, moody twist-turning to 2001’s underrated “Lantana”).
Now 54, Gibson is grayer and grimmer. The part of Craven leaves little room for humor, but the wildness and fire that once exploded unpredictably from Gibson is much dimmed after several hard years for the actor…read more [The Olympian]
This really is the perfect comeback role for Mel, one that harks back to some of his most memorable roles, but also allowing him to stretch as an actor, returning after eight years with a new perspective and maturity towards what his job as actor entails. There...
Campbell is working from a screenplay adapted from that series by two seasoned scribes: William Monohan (“The Departed,” another remake transplanted to Boston) and Andrew Bovell (who brought similar, moody twist-turning to 2001’s underrated “Lantana”).
Now 54, Gibson is grayer and grimmer. The part of Craven leaves little room for humor, but the wildness and fire that once exploded unpredictably from Gibson is much dimmed after several hard years for the actor…read more [The Olympian]
This really is the perfect comeback role for Mel, one that harks back to some of his most memorable roles, but also allowing him to stretch as an actor, returning after eight years with a new perspective and maturity towards what his job as actor entails. There...
- 1/29/2010
- by Allan Ford
- Filmofilia
Martin Campbell may not be a director you know by name but you certainly know his work. He directed one of the best James Bond films ever in Casino Royale and pretty soon he'll be hard at work bringing The Green Lantern to the big screen for Warner Bros. Last year though he had the task of being the first director to direct Mel Gibson in a film since 2002. We had a chance to sit down and talk with the Edge Of Darkness director about what it's like to direct an actor who himself is an...
- 1/29/2010
- by Jenna Busch
- JoBlo.com
Watch a two part Jimmy Kimmel interview with Mel Gibson on the upcoming film “Edge of Darkness” by director Martin Campbell (Green Lantern, Casino Royale) and starring Mel Gibson (How I Spent My Summer Vacation, The Beaver), Ray Winstone (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief), Danny Huston (Clash of the Titans, Robin Hood), Bojana Novakovic (Drag Me to Hell) and Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil: Afterlife). Synopsis: As homicide detective Thomas Craven investigates the death of his activist daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie [...]...
- 1/29/2010
- by Brian Corder
- ShockYa
Mel Gibson is back in “Edge of Darkness” and it feels like he has never left. Gibson has been away from acting for several years while he directed and dealt with personal entanglements. He is in fine form here as Detective Tom Craven. Craven has had an up and down relationship with his daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic). He is excited that she is visiting him in Boston. Tragedy though strikes as she is brutally shot down dead in front of his house. Craven is naturally distraught and is determined to get justice. Director Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”) has dealt with this material before in a BBC television drama serial of the same name. The serial was a smash success with critics and fans alike. It was a tall task for Campbell to reduce the serial’s six hours to two hours here, but he succeeds. Screenwriters William Monahan (“The Departed...
- 1/29/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
In choosing to return to the well with a much smaller bucket, Martin Campbell will have known that diluting his acclaimed six hour 1985 BBC mini series Edge of Darkness into a two hour thriller would be a minefield.
Bringing Mel Gibson on board was seemingly a good move; out of the acting spotlight for a good seven years the return to the screen of one of Hollywood’s most recognisable talents has served the hype wagon well, and this film has been sold entirely on Gibson himself.
Gibson is a Boston detective whose daughter, a MIT grad and employee of an ostensibly benign R&D company, returns home to be suddenly gunned down on her father’s doorstep. The Boston police believe Gibson’s character Thomas Craven was the target, not so Mr. Gibson, who finds a series of clues which will lead him to discover his daughter’s activist past and a deeper,...
Bringing Mel Gibson on board was seemingly a good move; out of the acting spotlight for a good seven years the return to the screen of one of Hollywood’s most recognisable talents has served the hype wagon well, and this film has been sold entirely on Gibson himself.
Gibson is a Boston detective whose daughter, a MIT grad and employee of an ostensibly benign R&D company, returns home to be suddenly gunned down on her father’s doorstep. The Boston police believe Gibson’s character Thomas Craven was the target, not so Mr. Gibson, who finds a series of clues which will lead him to discover his daughter’s activist past and a deeper,...
- 1/29/2010
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Rating: 4/10
Writers: William Monahan, Andrew Bovell
Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic
Studio: Warner Bros.
I feel like I was one of the only people excited about Edge Of Darkness after seeing the film’s trailer. Martin Campbell blew me away with Casino Royale, so I was almost automatically excited for this film. Not to mention that I actually like Mel Gibson as an actor, and was anxious to see him in a new film. From the trailer, the film looked like an action-packed thrill ride, but it was actually quite the opposite.
Read more on Theatrical Review: Edge Of Darkness…...
Writers: William Monahan, Andrew Bovell
Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic
Studio: Warner Bros.
I feel like I was one of the only people excited about Edge Of Darkness after seeing the film’s trailer. Martin Campbell blew me away with Casino Royale, so I was almost automatically excited for this film. Not to mention that I actually like Mel Gibson as an actor, and was anxious to see him in a new film. From the trailer, the film looked like an action-packed thrill ride, but it was actually quite the opposite.
Read more on Theatrical Review: Edge Of Darkness…...
- 1/29/2010
- by John Mulhern
- GordonandtheWhale
It’s inevitable, it would seem, that when you take a six-hour miniseries made for British TV and boil it down to a two-hour American studio movie, a lot is going to be lost. And since we’re going from the BBC to Hollywood, it’s an easy guess that what will be lost will be the bulk of what made the original material six hours long in the first place: character stuff. Because even if Hollywood movies gave a damn about character as a primary motive for storytelling, there’s simply not a lot of room for character if you want to keep all the mystery and the bit of action that comprised all the not-character stuff in the source material. What’s weird about this new Edge of Darkness, however, is that while much of the character stuff has indeed been sucked out, what’s left is suprisingly underpowered,...
- 1/29/2010
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Minor spoiler warning for Martin Campbell’s latest, Edge of Darkness.
John Cooper: The heroic revenge film has been done to death, no pun intended. Death Wish. Death Wish 2. Death Wish 3, 4 and 5. Taken is still fresh in our memories. Mel Gibson’s iconic road warrior started out as a peaceful husband in Mad Max, only to go on a killing spree after she’s robbed from him.
So when Gibson’s Craven loses his daughter to the shotgun spray of a masked killer in Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness, we already have certain expectations. Somebody will pay, violently, and Craven will be the one dishing out the damage. So does Darkness do anything new?
Philip Barrett: Edge of Darkness goes in a completely different direction and becomes a political/revenge thriller (I stress that word very, very seriously) and is the complete opposite of what the ads proclaim it to be.
John Cooper: The heroic revenge film has been done to death, no pun intended. Death Wish. Death Wish 2. Death Wish 3, 4 and 5. Taken is still fresh in our memories. Mel Gibson’s iconic road warrior started out as a peaceful husband in Mad Max, only to go on a killing spree after she’s robbed from him.
So when Gibson’s Craven loses his daughter to the shotgun spray of a masked killer in Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness, we already have certain expectations. Somebody will pay, violently, and Craven will be the one dishing out the damage. So does Darkness do anything new?
Philip Barrett: Edge of Darkness goes in a completely different direction and becomes a political/revenge thriller (I stress that word very, very seriously) and is the complete opposite of what the ads proclaim it to be.
- 1/29/2010
- by John Cooper
- ReelLoop.com
Mel Gibson has been away from the cameras for a while, and he appears a little scuffed up in Edge Of Darkness, his first starring role since Signs in 2002. He looks greyer and craggier than before, and his stiff movements make it easy to forget his former athletic grace. Whatever the source of that wear and tear, it at least helps him look the part in this revenge thriller, which casts him as a Boston cop looking for answers after seeing his daughter (Bojana Novakovic) gunned down on his own front porch. Director Martin Campbell, adapting a well-regarded BBC ...
- 1/28/2010
- avclub.com
James Cameron's "Avatar" will put a seventh notch in its domestic boxoffice belt this weekend.
The sci-fi epic looks likely to register more than $25 million through Sunday, and that should be plenty to top the frame despite two potentially appealing wide openers set to hit theaters Friday. Warner Bros.' Mel Gibson-starring thriller "Edge of Darkness" and Disney's romantic comedy "When in Rome" appear headed for bows in the low to mid-teen millions.
Rated R, "Darkness" is directed by Martin Campbell, who also helmed the BBC's six-episode miniseries of the same name from which the movie was adapted by William Monahan ("The Departed") and Andrew Bovell ("Lantana").
The studio is simply distributing for pic...
The sci-fi epic looks likely to register more than $25 million through Sunday, and that should be plenty to top the frame despite two potentially appealing wide openers set to hit theaters Friday. Warner Bros.' Mel Gibson-starring thriller "Edge of Darkness" and Disney's romantic comedy "When in Rome" appear headed for bows in the low to mid-teen millions.
Rated R, "Darkness" is directed by Martin Campbell, who also helmed the BBC's six-episode miniseries of the same name from which the movie was adapted by William Monahan ("The Departed") and Andrew Bovell ("Lantana").
The studio is simply distributing for pic...
- 1/28/2010
- by By Carl DiOrio
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Edge of Darkness will get more attention for Mel Gibson.s return to acting than for being a remake of an .80s British TV series. Gibson plays Thomas Craven, a homicide detective who sees his daughter murdered on his front step. Investigating her death, he uncovers a bigger conspiracy.
Mel Gibson on the Edge of Darkness
.I watched it back in the .80s, avidly,. Gibson said of the original. .Avidly. It was some of the best TV I.d ever seen and British television at that time was great. We.ve all talked about that but I made a point to not watch it, because I didn.t want it to be a part of that, but to just try and be truthful. Hey, if you.re saying that my performance was anything like what Bob Peck did, I.m flattered because I think he was amazing..
Stepping back in front of the camera,...
Mel Gibson on the Edge of Darkness
.I watched it back in the .80s, avidly,. Gibson said of the original. .Avidly. It was some of the best TV I.d ever seen and British television at that time was great. We.ve all talked about that but I made a point to not watch it, because I didn.t want it to be a part of that, but to just try and be truthful. Hey, if you.re saying that my performance was anything like what Bob Peck did, I.m flattered because I think he was amazing..
Stepping back in front of the camera,...
- 1/28/2010
- www.canmag.com
The Manchester-born actor on why she has played truants, schemers and tearaways all her life
"Am I blind or are you hiding?" I get this text from Joanne Whalley as I'm looking directly at her, eye to eye, at a coffeeshop near her home in West Hollywood. She's the one who seems to be hiding: slender and on the small side, wearing sombre colours and sunglasses on a gloomy winter's day. She might be a suburban mother picking up the kids, or one of those quietly dangerous film-noirish women – in shades, dressed to blend in – she has played on more than one occasion.
After the release of Scandal in 1989, in which she played Christine Keeler, Whalley seemed on the verge of something huge. She had recently married the Hollywood star Val Kilmer and moved to the Us. But the marriage lasted eight years, and the career did not. Some people...
"Am I blind or are you hiding?" I get this text from Joanne Whalley as I'm looking directly at her, eye to eye, at a coffeeshop near her home in West Hollywood. She's the one who seems to be hiding: slender and on the small side, wearing sombre colours and sunglasses on a gloomy winter's day. She might be a suburban mother picking up the kids, or one of those quietly dangerous film-noirish women – in shades, dressed to blend in – she has played on more than one occasion.
After the release of Scandal in 1989, in which she played Christine Keeler, Whalley seemed on the verge of something huge. She had recently married the Hollywood star Val Kilmer and moved to the Us. But the marriage lasted eight years, and the career did not. Some people...
- 1/28/2010
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
This Friday, audiences will decide whether or not they're into a Mel Gibson comeback, but Hollywood seems to have tentatively decided they're cool with the idea. According to Variety, Gibson is in talks to star in Universal's Cold Warrior, a thriller that would reunite him with Shane Black, who is set to direct the film from Chuck Mondry's script.
The film centers on a Cold War era spy who is lured out of retirement by a new domestic terror threat launched by Russia. He's paired up with "a younger agent of the new school" and presumably clashes with that agent over the way things used to be. Variety isn't clear as to whether it'll have comedic elements like Black's other action films, or if it will be a dark and edgy thriller.
While Gibson has lined up a lot of projects in the last year (including a reunion with Jodie Foster in The Beaver,...
The film centers on a Cold War era spy who is lured out of retirement by a new domestic terror threat launched by Russia. He's paired up with "a younger agent of the new school" and presumably clashes with that agent over the way things used to be. Variety isn't clear as to whether it'll have comedic elements like Black's other action films, or if it will be a dark and edgy thriller.
While Gibson has lined up a lot of projects in the last year (including a reunion with Jodie Foster in The Beaver,...
- 1/28/2010
- by Elisabeth Rappe
- Cinematical
London -- Mel Gibson action movie, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" will break out in theaters via distributor Icon Entertainment in the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Icon's British-based sales arm, Icon Entertainment International will also handle sales on the Mexican-set prison drama internationally. It will mark Gibson's return to action roles as "Edge of Darkness," directed by Martin Campbell, unspools in theaters.
The multiple territory deal is the first struck via Icon Entertainment's first look deal with Gibson and Bruce Davey's L.A.-based production label Icon Productions after Access Industries snapped up Icon's distribution and sales arms through a deal led by former Polygram Film International president Stewart Till in October last year.
Icon Productions controls North America/Canada rights.
Written by Gibson, Adrian Grunberg and Stacy Perskie, produced by Davey and Perskie and directed by Grunberg, the movie tells the story of a...
Icon's British-based sales arm, Icon Entertainment International will also handle sales on the Mexican-set prison drama internationally. It will mark Gibson's return to action roles as "Edge of Darkness," directed by Martin Campbell, unspools in theaters.
The multiple territory deal is the first struck via Icon Entertainment's first look deal with Gibson and Bruce Davey's L.A.-based production label Icon Productions after Access Industries snapped up Icon's distribution and sales arms through a deal led by former Polygram Film International president Stewart Till in October last year.
Icon Productions controls North America/Canada rights.
Written by Gibson, Adrian Grunberg and Stacy Perskie, produced by Davey and Perskie and directed by Grunberg, the movie tells the story of a...
- 1/28/2010
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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